


Blocked

by musicmillennia



Series: The Enterprise Wing [2]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Angst, Cannibalism, Dragon Riders, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, For once Bones is saying "NOT dead", Gen, Hurt Jim, Hurt/Comfort, Implications of Slavery, Kidnapping, M/M, Made-Up Languages, Mild Gore, Multi, Other, Prosthetics, Starvation, Tarsus IV, it's one sentence but it's there, kind of, soul bonds, you'll see - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:47:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25142629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicmillennia/pseuds/musicmillennia
Summary: Over the course of their five-year mission, Jim’s settled somewhat. He can sit still for longer stretches, his voice smoothing into a Captain’s tone. Leonard’s proud of his progress.What hasn’t gotten better, though, is Jim’s codependency with Celestia. And thanks to some Klingon assholes, he’s paying the price.[[wherein Jim and Bones get captured, and a device cuts off Jim's telepathic bonds. Also, a little bit about how Jim and Celestia met.]]
Relationships: James T. Kirk & Celestia Kirk (OC Dragon), James T. Kirk & Leonard "Bones" McCoy, James T. Kirk/Spock
Series: The Enterprise Wing [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815928
Comments: 8
Kudos: 77





	Blocked

**Author's Note:**

  * For [QueenZ17](https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenZ17/gifts).



> this goes out to QueenZ17, whose beautiful comments have encouraged me to keep posting this series :)
> 
> As the tags state, there's a bit of Tarsus IV gruesomeness, but I highly doubt it's on a scale comparable to some of the other Tarsus fics out there, and it doesn't go into depth beyond one scene. Originally I wasn't going to put this in until later, but for Reasons, I can't post McCoy and Davey's backstory until this one goes up, since the beginning of that relies heavily on the bond between Celestia and Jim. You'll see!
> 
> NOTE: YOU SHOULD READ "INTO THE WOODS" IF YOU WANT IN-DEPTH DESCRIPTIONS OF CELESTIA AND DAVEY (also some of Amanda's features are in there too)

But for Jim’s death grip on his right elbow, he looks like a corpse, pale and unblinking.

“Celestia’s not dead, Jim,” Leonard quietly reminds him again.

Jim doesn’t even twitch at his dragon’s name. Just stares ahead. Leonard can’t help checking his pulse again. Dangerously slow. Leonard’s done what he can for the shock, but there’s not much available in a Klingon cell. Best he can do is hold him, try to share body heat, and keep talking.

It’s as if, without his bond, Jim’s body is shutting down. Leonard hasn’t seen anything this severe since the destruction of Vulcan tore family bonds apart, killing a majority of the survivors. Humans aren’t supposed to have rider bonds this deep. Hell, they’re not supposed to have conscious telepathic links in the first place. Dragons attach to a human rider on a subconscious level. Leonard’s passively aware of Davey, his heart telling him its partner is alive and far away. That’s it.

Jim and Celestia, though. Fuck. When they bother to talk to each other out loud—which isn’t often—they barely get a word out before the other replies. It’s disturbing, how fast they speak.

And the Klingons have taken that away. A special collar Leonard can’t remove without a Klingon’s fingerprint, designed to attach to the spine and suppress the part of Jim’s brain that’s supposed to be ill-used.

…oh, shit. His marriage bond with Spock is most likely gone too.

Leonard can’t even imagine what Jim’s feeling.

“Celestia’s not dead,” he whispers, “They’re okay. I promise you, they’re okay.” No response. He sighs. “Spock’s definitely up and kickin’. Damn Vulcan always has to have the last word.” He squeezes Jim’s shoulder. “That computer he calls a brain is probably drawin’ up ten different plans to rescue us.”

Silence. It rings twice as loud with Jim’s last words. God help ‘im, he’d sounded so broken, screaming for what felt like hours. Leonard hadn’t understood a word—all of it was in Celestia’s language, that unknown tongue their dam spoke made of hisses and growls.

The Klingons _laughed_. They left when Jim fell silent. Probably not entertaining enough. Motherfuckers.

Jim’s right arm spasms against Leonard’s side. Leonard would be hopeful, but it’s just the prosthetic’s way of signaling low power. Idiot hasn’t charged it in weeks, way before their capture. Spock usually reminds him, but he probably didn’t listen, as usual.

Jim’s told the story of how he lost his arm plenty of times. It’s never the same story twice. But Leonard thinks he knows.

“They’re okay, Jim,” he whispers, “They’re okay.”

* * *

“I can last longer,” Celestia whispers, “I know what it is to starve.” They nudge the meager protein pack at Jim. “Take it.”

Jim shudders. He’s fourteen and one of the kids he’d sworn to protect has died in her sleep. Five fucking years old.

“Take it,” Celestia repeats.

He doesn’t deserve it. But with Celestia’s eyes on him, glowing in the dark, he feels like he has no choice.

Celestia hums and draws him gently to their chest. The remaining children are tucked tightly under their wing to ward off the chill. If they could fit, Jim would’ve told them to join him—Celestia’s heartbeat is jarring and beautiful, radiating heat even though they can’t breathe fire.

When the pack’s gone, Celestia bids him to sleep. Jim finds his eyes closing, somehow knowing he’ll be safe. He’s never trusted anyone so much.

* * *

Jim’s arm powers down. Jim’s grip on it doesn’t falter. Leonard tucks him against his shoulder. The collar digs uncomfortably against his bones. He doesn’t care.

“Davey’s probably goin’ nuts,” he says, “Thumpin’ his tail. I can just see it, bringin’ the _Enterprise_ down on the crew’s ears.”

…he sighs. “Could really use you, Jim. I don’t got a head for the MacGyver shit you pull.”

Jim’s breath is barely there. Leonard swallows panic. He can’t let him die. Not again.

“ _Damn_ it.”

* * *

“I am here for cheap labor,” Celestia says.

Jim scoffs. “Get in line. My mom dumped me on this planet. _Adventure_ my ass.”

“At least you have a dam. Mine is gone.”

“Yeah, well, so’s my dad.”

“I was sold.”

Jim pauses.

“…fine. That’s worse.”

Celestia raises their head. “Then you will stop your whining and _work_.”

* * *

“Y’never told me what _ashva_ means.”

Leonard butchers it. Jim and Celestia give it a weird hissing undertone that somehow manages to sound tender.

Jim _jerks_ in his arms.

Hope surges. “Yeah, I know, I can’t say it well. _Ashva_? That better?”

Jim’s breath shudders.

“No, it’s _ah_ , not _a._ _Ashva_.” Leonard grunts. “Damn it. I’ll get it right.”

An awful keening sound.

Leonard nearly knocks their heads together. “Jim?”

Jim is crying.

* * *

“What…what does that mean?” Jim whispers.

Celestia noses along his protruding ribs. “It is what my dam called me,” they whisper back, “The best definition I can find is _beloved_.”

Jim’s too dehydrated to shed tears. “Why…?”

“Because it is what you are.” Celestia brings him close. “It means that when you reach the stars, I will be with you.”

Jim’s trembling hands find their paw. “Yeah?”

“Always.”

* * *

Celestia is unresponsive. The _katra_ in them has simply vanished.

Spock relies heavily on Amanda to remain functional. The loss of the _t’hy’la_ bond will not cripple him. Not until he can retrieve Jim’s body. There is also Dr. McCoy to consider, whose dragon has been incredibly vocal about his displeasure.

Negotiation has gotten them nowhere.

Spock gathers the Alpha crew in the Ready Room. He looks at each of them. They are prepared for what he has to say.

Jim and McCoy will return to the _Enterprise_ one way or another. At any cost.

* * *

Jim’s transferred his hold to Leonard’s dirty uniform, quiet tears crashing into loud, hiccupping sobs. Trying to tell him Celestia’s still alive makes him zone out. But that _word_ seems to keep him alive.

So Leonard keeps whispering, “Shh, _ashva_ , I’m here,” and tries to will Jim’s heart to keep beating.

Jim screams against his chest.

_Damn it, Spock. Hurry up._

* * *

It’s a hot day when Jim dies.

“There was one human who treated me with kindness,” Celestia says as he starts to drift. “Keket was her name. Remember it, Jim, for I made her a promise to survive, and you must keep it.”

There’s a curdling _tearing_ sound, and something warm flows down Jim’s throat. It’s followed by a foul-smelling something that tastes so, so good.

Suddenly he’s back on Earth, six years old, listening to his mother read him and Sam a bedtime story.

“ _And so the dragon gave the knight his sacred blood_ ,” her voice whispers through his aching stomach, “ _which, when given freely, can make a man stronger than a thousand._ ”

Jim crashes back into himself with new awareness. At first, he can only sob at how _full_ he feels. Then he hears another rumbling from Celestia and, oh fuck, there’s blood _everywhere_.

Celestia has torn off their paw, and Jim is eating it.

“ _Live_ ,” they say.

Enraged panic rocks through Jim, white hot. He bites down on his jacket collar. With their detached talon, saws off his right arm.

Celestia shrieks, but he doesn’t stop until he can shove the meat into their mouth.

Together, they eat.

All he can think is, _you are not leaving me_ , and it seems to forge something, something that he realizes has been lurking in the back of his head for a while now.

They shudder as one.

Wonder. Desperation. _Mine?_

**_Mine_.**

Starfleet finds them half-dead from blood loss. But find them they do.

* * *

The Klingons are a warrior race. But so were the Vulcans, once. Leonard’s seen those primal centuries in Spock, yet he’s still surprised when a Klingon is thrown clear across the brig, followed by a snarling Amanda and her absolutely livid rider.

Spock moves with violent grace. The Klingon doesn’t have a chance to get up before his kneecaps are crushed.

Jim whimpers. Spock whirls around, and oh, fuck, he must’ve thought his bondmate was dead.

“You gotta get this thing off him,” Leonard says, “We need a fingerprint.”

Amanda _slams_ the cell door open, breaking it like a toothpick.

The Klingon’s knocked out with a smash of his head against the wall. Spock drags him over by the collar.

“Fuck,” Leonard whispers.

One press of a thumb, and Jim’s doubled over, hand clenching in his hair. Spock is pulled taut for a moment. Amanda noses him into breathing again.

“Jim,” he says softly.

Jim’s head whips up. He finally seems to see what’s in front of him. He throws his arm around his bondmate, gasping nonsense into his throat. At least, it sounds like gibberish to Leonard. Spock, though, seems to understand, and presses to Jim’s psi-points.

Leonard gets to his feet. “There’s no alarm,” he says. “How the hell did you get in here without settin’ one off?”

Amanda looks at him. Something foreign brushes his mind. He’s not sure how to let it in, but his reply seems to register.

_Mr. Scott is efficient,_ Amanda says. It strikes Leonard that he’s never heard her _speak_. Her ‘voice’ is middle-pitched and smooth, her presence warm like a Georgian summer morning. _We transported into their engineering bay. They did not have time to retaliate._

Leonard’s eyes widen.

_None were killed_. She seems affronted at the idea. _The ship is more or less intact. The warp core is simply…inaccessible at the moment._

Leonard looks at Jim.

_He will be alright_ , Amanda says gently. _Spock is helping his mind readjust. Celestia is very loud._

“I’ll bet,” Leonard mutters. He steps into the hallway. “That reminds me. Where’s—?”

“DARLIN’!”

“Oh fu—”

Leonard crashes to the floor, arms full of overenthusiastic dragon.

“Get off me, you big lug!” he shouts, “You’re gonna crush me!”

Davey nuzzles against him. Leonard’s surprised his ribs don’t break. “Are you okay? Any bruisin’? Cuts?”

“I’m _fine_! Get _off_!”

Davey finally relents enough for Leonard to sit up. “We were so worried! Cellie couldn’t reach Jim and—oh, Jim’s _alive_!”

Leonard throws himself in front just in time. “Give him space! He’s been through hell.”

Davey obediently plops down, rattling the floor. “But he’ll be okay too?”

Leonard looks over his shoulder to see Jim blinking groggily. His lips form a word— _Bones?_

Leonard breathes out. “Yeah. Yeah, he’ll be okay.”

* * *

They find a planetoid that’s breathable and go for a ride, just the six of them. Leonard submits to flying, since it’s the only way Davey can keep up, white-knuckling his saddle horn and ducking low against the rushing wind.

On the rocky ground are Spock and Amanda. It’s a pretty amazing sight, watching a Vulcan dragon run. A cheetah can’t hope to match.

Leonard’s pulled away from the sight when Jim’s upside-down face drops in front of him.

“Hey Bones!” comes a cheery voice over the comms.

“Damn it, Jim, be careful!”

Then Davey says, “That looks fun!”

“ _NO_ —”

* * *

“Hey,” Jim says after, “at least you threw up on the ground.”

“Fuck you.”

**Author's Note:**

> As I've said before, if you have any questions about this world, feel free to ask! :D thank you!


End file.
